Taking Hope
by Andromiel
Summary: AkiHika, Discontinued After episode 63, Hikaru escapes Go and leaves Japan. By a stroke of fate, Akira has found Hikaru. Can he keep him from running away again?
1. Information Before FanFic

[**Title**] Taking Hope  
[**Author**] Andro  
[**Disclaimer**] Hikaru No Go does not belong to me.   
All right, some of you are probably wondering what the heck this is... basically, I _hated_ [**Taking Hope**]. The writing was painfully awkward, and I couldn't figure out what to do next. So it was comatose for months.  
I shouldn't even be writing this, but... well, here I am. Because I got such lovely, lovely feedback on the original version, I've decided to rewrite it into a much better fanfic.  
The plot is still the same, Ina Beliend is still in this story since she seems to be tolerable, except her role has been changed, and I'm sure that this is probably much better for many of you, and a lot of things are much clearer now.  
There are certain things that Hikaru [and Touya] now does, because he's changed. You may not like them, but fear not, it may turn out to be one of the things that I'm planning to make a point out of him changing later on.  
  
This is an alternate universe fic, that spins off from around episode sixty-four. What if Hikaru had never found Sai in his Go, and had run away from Japan? Feeling guilty out of what he did, this is the Hikaru of years later. By accident, a friend of his, meaning to do well, makes him bump heads with one of the last people Hikaru ever wanted to see... Akira Touya.  
Hikaru's guilt is eating away from him, and he misses Japan and his friends, but he feels that he doesn't deserve to be around them anymore, and it still hurts to think of Go. Can even the great Go prodigy, and his old rival make him realize he doesn't have to punish himself?  
Touya doesn't know why Hikaru suddenly just vanished from his world from one day to another, but he'll be damned if he'll let Hikaru go without a fight.  
  
This is a shounen-ai story, AkiHika if you can't tell. Waya, Ochi, Isumi and the rest will come into the fanfic when I can fit them in. I'll try my best to keep the original characters in the background, and as little annoying as I can.  
  
No characters will be bashed in this fic to my knowledge, it won't go above a PG-13 rating, and while it will have some very angsty moments, it won't be like that all the time.  
  
Please enjoy. 


	2. Fear

[Title] Taking Hope  
[Author] Andro  
[Rating] PG-13  
[Disclaimer] They don't belong to me. Damn.  
[Warnings] AU, shounen-ai.  
[Author Notes]   
Other notes... right!  
Thank you to everyone who reviewed to the old version... I hope you all like the rewriten version!  
  
The rest of the Hikaru No Go cast will slowly make their way into this fic, so it won't be Hikaru, Touya and a bunch of original characters all the time.  
  
If anything strikes you as odd, I probably did it completely on purpose. For example, Hikaru's long hair, and his fainting in the previous all had logical reasons that would have been explained later... this new version makes many things clearer right off.  
By the way, Hikaru may sometimes speak very awkwardly... it's because his English isn't perfect.  
Thank you for reading, and thanks for reviwing ahead of time.  
My fanfiction/icon site is Cerulean.Illuminati-X.net.  
  
// Thoughts \\  
"Speech"  
"-Character is talking in Japanese-"  
  
*~*~*~  
  
Chapter One: **Fear**  
  
*~*~*~  
  
"If I ask you again, will you tell me just where you are taking me?"  
Ina Beliend glanced at the young man next to her, a little smirk playing with her lips.  
"Nope." Her voice was merry, and loud so it could be heard over the rushing wind. Being in a sports car with the top down usually did not help conversation.  
"I did not think so." Hikaru Shindou's tone, opposite of hers, was dry. He really hadn't expected his younger friend to actually give him an answer, but he figured he might as well raise the subject for a final try.  
  
Maybe it was better that she not reveal anything about their future destination. He kind of liked surprises. // It's not like it'll be a bad surprise either. \\ He reflected, and relaxed into the white leather seat, humming a light tune.  
  
The dark blindfold over his face took away his sense of sight, but from what he could tell using other senses, they were traveling rapidly down a main road, probably right next to the beach.  
The familiar salty smell was strong, and Hikaru could hear the shrill call of sea gulls as they flew over head. Hopefully not looking for an impromptu bathroom.   
Some people had the belief that it meant good luck, but the fact of the matter was, it wasn't ever good luck to have droppings tossed down on you.  
  
The Japanese man laid his head against the comfortable headrest, languidly scratching his forearm. It was late Friday, the second of October. Florida was just beginning to sink into colder climates, but the sun was still a merciless creature, pounding sunlight and heat into any living thing unlucky enough to be outside, instead of inside with a glass of cold water and the air conditioning on at full blast. He was currently being 'kidnapped' by a close friend of his, a high school student he'd met a few years ago. Where she was taking him... was anyone's guess. Hikaru certainly had no clue.  
  
Running his hand through his long hair, Hikaru took another deep breath, smelling the air that reminded him so much of home. There was the small detail that his home had never been near the ocean, but never the less, the scent of a beach reminded him of Japan.  
  
Clearwater, Florida, and Tokyo, Japan were two highly different places however, and he was grateful. He usually didn't feel like wallowing in the past. It never served any purpose.  
On the driver's seat, Ina pushed her blonde locks away from her face, wishing she'd had the foresight to have pulled them back before getting into the car. But no. She'd thought because it barely reached her chin, it wouldn't give her any trouble at all.  
// Blegh. \\ She pushed it with an impatient flick of her hand back, and spared a few precious seconds at the collection of CD cases she had jammed into the available space beneath her disc player. // What do I play...? \\ She wondered, and glanced up at the road, narrowly avoiding a collision with a metal post.  
  
Instinctually feeling the jerk, Hikaru stiffened.  
  
"What was that?"  
"Nothing, just trying to pick up a CD. Sorry." She would have waved his concern away, except she needed both her hands.  
  
Hikaru's lips curled up into a small smile, and he shook his head.  
"You know, you only got your license a year ago, you want to lose it already?"  
Ina stuck out her tongue. "Hardly!" Her fingers finally brushed against the CD that she was looking for and pulled it out. With nimble fingers yet again, she got it open and slid the compact disk into the player slot and pressed 'play'.  
  
The hard tones of Phi's Knife of Romance began to play, and she nodded contentedly. God, how she loved JRock. Why her friend had ever wanted to leave Japan was completely and utterly beyond her.  
  
"I really don't understand how you can stand to listen to that, when you barely understand any of it." Hikaru pointed out, settling back into his seat.  
"Hey, I'm learning! Besides, music is music. It's like, supposed to be the language everyone understands." Ina looked around for signs of what she was looking for, and turned left in the turn pike.  
  
"No, I think that's sex."  
"Hikaru!" Ina yelped, embarrassed.  
Hikaru smirked, and stretched his arms, crossing them above his head.  
"What? You're still turning red when ever I say the word?"  
"It's just not polite to talk about." Ina mumbled, looking ashamed.  
"You're too proper."  
"And this is coming from a Japanese man. I think you've been in America for too long." Ina retorted, looking for the elusive sign.  
  
"Gackt is Japanese." Hikaru volunteered, sounding innocent.  
"Ahah! So you did watch the Mars DVD I left at your house!" Ina's attention was momentarily taken up by the new found information, and she almost missed the sign.  
"Bloody hell." Laying the foot of the gas, the car slowly slid into the new direction.  
"Maybe I'll tell you if you'll tell me where we're going."  
"No dice." Ina shook her head, even though she was aware that Hikaru could not see her.  
"It is a surprise after all, I want to see the look on your face when we get there."  
"Oh, great." Hikaru grimaced, a thread of sarcasm flowing through his tone.  
"Shush, you'll like it." She chastised.  
"And afterwards, we're going to go to a Japanese buffet, stuff ourselves silly, and then I'm sending you straight to bed."  
"Yes mother."  
"I'm serious Hikaru." Ina frowned, dark brown eyes worried. Her best friend was wasting away, bit by bit. He could have tried out for a part as a starving prisioner in a movie, since he _looked_ the part. He was small by nature, around her size, which wasn't horribly bad for an Asian man she supposed. Not that she had much experience either. Both stood at five feet and five inches, although she suspected Hikaru was at least ten pounds lighter than she was. Another girl might have been insulted by that, but that just plain made Ina fret. Dark circles had gathered over the past weeks below Hikaru's bright green eyes, and he just didn't look right at all.  
  
Ina felt guilty. The reason? She had only just realized how absolutely _terrible_ Hikaru looked about two weeks ago. But between Ina's high school classes, and Hikaru teaching gym at a nearby public middle school, they usually didn't get to see each other very often. So now that she had noticed, the teenage girl felt it was her god given duty to help him out and put some fat into those skinny arms of his. After all, what were friends for?  
  
To annoy the heck out of each other until they felt better, that's what.   
  
Hikaru sighed, the sound heavy and grim.  
"I've just been tired lately. Haven't gotten much sleep." He tried to smirk. "You know, I've just been _so_ busy grading papers and all.."  
  
"Yes, I'm sure all the little sixth graders have to fill out forms before they start running, and then after they do laps they had to solve problems relating to how long they spent running times their velocity..."  
  
"Exactly. Do you know how many F's I have given out in this week alone?"  
"Zero?"  
"Exactly."  
Her lips quirked up into a fond smile.  
"Idiot. I know you love your job."  
"Yeah. I do. It is fun. I am allowed to order around shorter people than I am around all day."  
"Sounds like what a C.E.O does." Ina mused, chuckling softly.  
"Although, I'm betting only about half of them are shorter than you. I swear, there are some monsters that came in this year from the middle school to visit that I would have sworn up and down on a bible that they were at least college freshmen. One of them even had a _beard_ for god's sake." She rambled on in exasperation, pushing her hair away from her face again.  
  
"Sounds... very interesting." One of Hikaru's eyebrows shot up, and he shifted, trying to get comfortable again.  
"Not even just a tiny, little, minuscule nothing hint?"  
"It involves wood."  
"Oh. Well." Hikaru paused, and rolled his eyes.  
"That is certainly highly informative."  
"Oh, I know!" She gushed with damnable cheery.  
"You can be _such_ a bitch." Hikaru informed her, a grin settled firmly on his mouth.  
"I know that too." Ina winked, and knew he'd caught the gesture... somehow.  
"Whatever. In danger of sounding like I am concerned or something, how is your history period?"  
"Blech."  
"Very informative as well."  
"Oh, shush." Ina fixed her eyes ahead on the long road in front of them, her nails making dull tapping sounds against the leather covering the steering wheel.  
Her fourth period class, was quite simply, absolute *hell*.  
  
The fault didn't lie with Mr.Perkins, the teacher. Not at all, she kind of liked him. He was funny and had a deadpan wit that usually left other people speechless. It was just the people she was stuck _with_ that drove her absolutely _mad_. How in the world Ina had managed to land in the class that seemed to have every single trouble maker in the school was beyond her. Just her _darling_ luck, she supposed.  
  
"It is still the same?"  
"Yes," She breathed out with a loud sigh.  
"Nothing ever changes. I tried to get the eleventh grade counselor to transfer me into math for that period, and have Ancient History in first, but she refuses because my category falls under 'personal', and I can't change classes because of any personal reason. Mr.Perkins even tried to point out in my favor that I'm the only one _not_ failing the class, but the old shrew is just... well. A shrew." She shrugged, obviously giving up and turned into another road.  
  
Hikaru felt the shift in gears, and leaned in with the motion.  
"I see." He said very quietly, feeling a little bad that he couldn't help her at all. Maybe if she had still been in middle school he might have helped, but he couldn't.  
Reaching blindly, his hand crashed against her shoulder before he changed the position and managed to pat it awkwardly.  
Ina shrugged, and grinned.  
"It's okay, I'll live. After all, it's only a half a year class, I leave at after I come back from Christmas vacation." She winced.  
"I just hope the class doesn't go with me too. Of course, now that I've said it, it will happen, because the universe just likes to spite me like that."  
"Yes, it does seem that way, does it not?" Hikaru mused, smiling.  
"Yep." Ina nodded.  
"Oi, Hikaru?"  
"Mn?"  
"You still haven't learned any slang, have you? I mean you're always all proper..." Ina smirked.  
"At least in speech."  
Hikaru snorted.  
"I am too lazy to learn the shortcuts."  
"Well." Ina's forehead creased.  
"That's something you don't hear too often..." She murmured to herself, and brightened up at finally seeing the big sign that had an arrow pointing to a moderately big building a few hundred meters away.  
  
"Okay, we're almost there, but don't take the blindfold! Or I'll give that number to that secretary who's always hitting on you." She threatened.  
  
A horrified look crossed Hikaru's face, and it wasn't all faked.  
"You wouldn't!"  
"Oh, I *would*." Ina promised dangerously.  
"Oh, _fine_." Hikaru gave in with a pout that made him look younger that he already looked... // Nineteen looking like seventeen looking like fourteen.\\ She thought, giggling at that, and finally pulled into the parking lot.  
  
It was relatively empty. Out of two hundred or so spots, a little less than fifty were filled. Excellent, she'd worried that maybe no one would have showed up at all. It wasn't like Go was very well known in America. Even she, the Asia, JRock and Anime freak had never heard about it, until one day, walking across a street in downtown Clearwater, Hikaru had suddenly stopped.  
  
Something had caught his attention completely in one of the store windows. She had looked at what she'd thought had been a table, and questioned Hikaru if he wanted it. She'd gladly buy it for him, money wasn't an issue for her. But it was really the absolutely bewitched yet stricken look on her best friend's face that had touched her.  
  
He'd vehemently denied it, and changed the subject. She'd let it slide, but after parting with the young man, she'd gone back to the store and questioned the owner about it. That was when she'd first learned of Go and what it was.  
  
It seemed interesting, so she'd picked up a couple magazines on it... she could understand the basics... and had played a couple times on the internet.. but besides that, she was absolutely lost on it all.  
  
It was a beautiful game, but she just didn't have any sort of skill in it. But Hikaru had been so interested in it... maybe he'd just been embarrassed about her buying it for him. Hikaru in general was a great, easy going guy, but he didn't really like the idea of a girl buying anything for him.  
  
And the goban *had* been pricey.  
  
She'd never bought it, and it was still there in the store, and every time they passed across from it, Hikaru would always glance at it, but never stop. It was obvious to her that he wanted to play.  
  
So. Now, she was both going to make Hikaru have a fun day, and force him to eat some delicious food too.  
  
With a smooth pull of her arm across the gears, the car came to a complete stop, neatly parked between two big vans.  
  
"Don't even think about it." She warned, seeing as Hikaru's hand crept up towards his face. He gave another exaggerated pout.  
Pulling the keys out of the ignition, Ina swung her bag over her shoulder and shut the door, locking it. She made her way around the vehicle and came up by Hikaru's side.  
  
Feeling her presence, he obediently opened the door slowly, not wanting to send it crashing and scratching up the paint job of another car.  
"This would be _so_ much easier if I didn't have this thing on." He pointed out wryly.  
"But it wouldn't be anywhere near as fun." Ina lead him out of the narrow path the two cars made together, and Hikaru heard the sound of another door being shut firmly and keys giggling.  
"Okay, done! Mwuahaha. Okay. Don't take it off yet." The sixteen year old came up to Hikaru and threaded her arm through his, leading him across the parking lot the big, glossy building.  
  
It was completely generic, save for a few huge, garish cheap banners swung from one end to another. Just a rental place, obviously. Ina didn't have any clue where the actual Go office was in Florida... if they even had one.  
  
Hikaru tried to be patient, although adrenaline was beginning to pump through his system. Where was she taking him? It was relatively quiet, and he could hear the road was still somewhere nearby, and cars still zoomed past on it. But...  
  
He heard doors being open, and he almost kneeled over at the feeling of chilly, brisk air swooping over him. He hadn't wanted to say anything, but he was really thirsty, and being out in the sun for half an hour hadn't helped him much. He hoped that they could get water... where ever they were.  
  
There were a lot of people around, that was for sure.  
He was beginning to focus on listening to what they were saying, when the blindfold was sharply pulled away from his eyes, and he blinked, feeling mildly dizzy at the light that suddenly flooded his eyes.  
  
"Welcome to the first amateur Go tournament of Florida, would you like a program?"  
Hikaru turned dazed eyes to the pleasant sounding female voice, and found Ina chatting cheerfully with someone, accepting a white booklet with a crude, half drawn illustration of a a goban. The welcomer walked away, and Ina stuffed the program into her bag, looking to see what was Hikaru's reaction.  
  
"I feel..." Hikaru struggled for the appropriate English word, feeling a horrible dizzy spell sweep over him.  
  
Four years ago, he'd left everything Go related he could think of.  
  
What in the *world* had Ina thought, bringing him to a Go tournament?  
  
"-I feel sick." He mumbled in Japanese, lowering his head between his hands.  
  
"-I feel sick?-" Ina repeated awkwardly, not understanding it, but figuring out he didn't exactly feel like running a marathon.  
  
Ina helplessly wrapped an arm around his shoulders, letting him lean on her, while she tried looking for the coolest, most quiet corner and where she could get some water for Hikaru.  
  
"Is he all right?" A softly cultured, deeply accented male voice asked from her right, and Ina glanced at the tall man next to her, and shook her head.  
  
"No, I think he's heavily dehydrated. Are they serving drinks here?"  
"Yes... but perhaps it would be best if we took him to the infirmary," The man pointed out, calm voice soothing Ina's thready nerves. Damn, she'd meant to make Hikaru feel better, not give him a heart attack!  
  
The older man nodded slightly.  
"Can he walk?"  
"Yeah, I think so."  
"Very well, please follow me." The dark haired man murmured in that ever soft, polite voice of his, and turned around.  
  
"Touya?"  
  
Ina glanced at Hikaru, then realized the man had stopped and was turning around again. There was a mildly astonished expression on his face.  
  
"Who...?" His green eyes focused more intently, and Ina tried not to look nervous.  
"Shindou?"  
  
*~*~*~  
  
End Chapter 1  
  
*~*~*~   
  
In case you didn't get it... it gets *very* hot in Florida. Especially in the afternoon, when the sun is horribly strong. If you don't drink a lot of water, and are outside for a while-as did Hikaru, obviously, since he spends most of his time out on a field teaching classes, and then during the car trip-people tend to get dizzy spells and pass out. It is even likelier to happen if you're not in the prime of health, and you receive some sort of shock. It's a horrible, horrible sensation that I've fortunately only experienced once. I happened to fall down after running some distance and had a horrible disoriented, weak sensation. And it *does* happen. This is a bit of a horror story I suppose... in 7th grade, I attended a private school, and our Vice-Princepal was a *bitch*. She got the middle school together and made us practice a song, over and over again for several hours in the late morning-early afternoon, which is when the sun begins to strengthen. Even though we had it down pat, she kept wanting us to sing it over and over again, until three kids had passed out. Mind you, we were standing under trees as well. Yes, our VP was a bitch from hell who many of us DA graduates would probably like to smack and make *her* sing for four hours with no water in 93+ degree heat. 


	3. Chased

  
  
*~*~*~  
  
Chapter 2: **Chasing**  
  
*~*~*~  
  
His head hurt, as if someone inside had decided they wanted to get out, but there were no doors and windows, so instead they had started pounding as hard as they possible could at the walls, demanding an exit, or willing to make one.  
  
Eyelashes lowering slowly, Hikaru took a long, heartfelt breath, drawing in the briskly cold air.  
An empty clear glass was clutched tightly in his hand, until Ina pried it open and replaced it with a new glass of water.  
  
Normally, Hikaru would have at least nodded at her in silent display of thanks, but his head throbbed too painfully for him to do much else besides drown the water in another hurried gulp. If he remembered right, that was the third glass. Or maybe the fourth. Fifth?  
  
The teenager felt a lot better than he had just ten minutes ago. At least he could tell which was the floor, and which was the ceiling.  
  
Handing the glass back to the worried girl, Hikaru wordlessly refused another helping, instead ran his hands through his hair, massaging the scalp in hopes of lessening the sore pulsing. That did it. He was going to start carrying water bottles with him everywhere he went. There was no way on earth he was going to willingly go through that hell again.  
  
Hikaru, very stupidly, decided that Touya Akira was _not_ sitting less than five feet away from him, looking almost comical sitting in a chair that was too small for him, leg crossed uncomfortably at the knee, pensive gaze fixed solely on Hikaru. Rationally, Hikaru was aware that looking at person didn't do anything to them physically, but at that moment, he felt like he was pinned to the spot, like a beetle on a card.  
  
Touya felt that if he dared to take his eyes off the other male, he'd vanish like morning mist before the rising sun. He'd done it before, hadn't he? One day, he'd seen Hikaru, then the next he knew of the young boy, he'd just disappeared. Hadn't shown up for any of his matches, and all his friends had been clueless.  
  
Eventually, Touya himself had shown up at the Shindou residence, and been confused for Waya. He'd let that slide, and politely asked where Hikaru was, for he wanted to speak with him. What he'd really been planning to do was drag Hikaru back to the Go institute by the _hair_ if that was what was necessary.  
  
_ "I'm sorry, Hikaru doesn't live here anymore."  
Touya shot the woman an incredulous look, but managed to hang on to his soft, polite tone.  
"I'm sorry, could you say that again? I'm not sure I heard right."  
"He doesn't live here anymore." The woman looked troubled.  
"One day, he just came home, and said he wanted to go into a student exchange program, instead of quitting school to play Go professionally all the time." She gave a helpless little shrug. "Of course, it was either let him join another school in another country, or not have him finish school at all." She gave him a small look.  
  
"I didn't force him to quit Go, I asked him why he wanted to leave Japan so badly, but he never answered me..." Mrs. Shindou was obviously troubled, her hands clutching at the apron she wore. "I see." Akira remarked slowly, although he didn't see at all. What the bloody blazes had gotten into Shindou? Just up and __leaving_ like that wasn't like him... quit Go?  
  
The Go pro shook his head quickly. // Impossible. \\  
"Ma'm, can you tell me how to contact your son please?" He requested, trying to quell the urge to hunt down the bleached blonde right then and there and demand why he was leaving Akira behind.  
  
"I'm sorry, but he's already left. Yesterday night, and has asked to that I not speak with his old friends... I'm sorry. Have a good afternoon." She bowed, and quickly shut the door closed in his face, leaving Akira Touya staring at the wood.  
  
What the hell was Shindou thinking?   
  
"Shindou." Touya began again, very firmly.  
Hikaru ignored him. He seemed to have grown very fond of that.  
Touya felt his little known temper rise up. How did the bleached blonde do it?  
"Shindou," He said again sharply.  
Ina raised an eyebrow, disliking the tone, and intercepted.  
"Excuse me... but how do you know Hikaru?"  
Touya barely spared her a glance, only did so out of his drilled manners.  
"We're Go professionals." He explained shortly, crisply rapping out the foreign English.  
"You're _what_?"  
A soft groan came from the silent third member.  
"Please do not shout." Hikaru whispered softly, pressing the palms of his hands against his eye sockets, blocking out the artificial light.  
"Sorry," Ina mumbled, but refused to let the subject drop.  
"You play Go _professionally_?" She started again, her face scrunched up in confusion.  
"When did _that_ happen?"  
"Used to." Hikaru corrected, with bitterness in his tone.  
  
The two others looked at him with varying degrees of surprise. Touya because it seemed that Hikaru was angry about the fact that he _didn't_ play Go anymore, and Ina was surprised because her friend had always been cheerful... maybe a little quiet and withdrawn at times, but never _bitter_...  
  
Still, why the heck hadn't he informed her of _that_ tiny, little fact? It wasn't as if she was some stranger demanding information on his past... she was his _best friend_...  
  
Ina gave him an injured look that he didn't see.  
"Why did you stop?"  
  
Silence.  
  
Touya spoke up, voice quiet, but hard.  
"Why _did_ you stop, Shindou?"  
  
Another wordless silence descended until a long breath seemed to rush out of Hikaru's lungs and he dropped his hands.  
  
"Because I wanted to. It is not a big deal." He dismissed with a wave of his hand, standing up. His legs felt weak like over-cooked ramen, but he was sure he wouldn't fall over. Or at least, he was hoping he wouldn't. He still did not look at Touya.  
  
Fire practically ignited in dark green eyes, and Touya rose up to his feet, ready to start shouting.  
Damn, how _did_ Shindou manage to make him angry with just six words?  
"What do you mean it isn't a big deal?" He took a threatening step forward, and watched an apprehensive wince shake Hikaru's thin frame. He took a step back, and Touya was stunned. Hikaru had _never_ backed down like that. He switched to Japanese, find it it more comfortable, and more private.  
  
"-Why?-" Touya demanded, lowering his voice. For the first time, he managed to push away his surprise at finding the other male and truly _looked_ at him.  
His hair was longer, brushing past his shoulders. The bleached bangs hadn't been done for a while, turning a darker color, more brown than golden. At first he'd taken for granted that Hikaru had grown into having high cheekbones, but then he noticed that he had just grown very thin. The boy he'd known had always been fit, energetic like a puppy, but this Hikaru looked... gaunt. Haunted.  
  
Air rushed out of his lungs like a low hiss.  
"-Why?-"  
  
Hikaru turned his face away.  
"There are things that are more important than Go," He answered in a dead voice, refusing to speak his native tongue. The short young man rubbed a hand over his eyes.  
  
"Look, I'm sure you are here for a reason Touya, don't let me be a distraction. I'm not worth it."  
"Not... worth it?" If possible, Touya's voice had grown colder than ice, frigid. Gelid. Not worth it? Did Hikaru mean to say the years they spent chasing after each other weren't worth it?   
  
Hikaru turned his face, and looked at him, and Touya paused.  
  
He had never met this Hikaru.  
  
Hikaru had been puzzling. A mystery to all. He'd liked to talk out loud to himself, and never seemed to take anything down for too long... if at all.  
  
...   
  
What in God's name had happened to Hikaru Shindou?  
  
*~*~*~  
  
"There's a lot I don't know about Hikaru."  
  
Touya looked up, and found the girl who had been with Shindou standing in front of him.  
Three hours earlier, she and Hikaru had left. After that, Touya hadn't been sure if he wanted to meet the new Hikaru. There didn't seem to be anything of the boy he once knew left. No passion, no joy, nothing.  
He blinked, blandly.  
  
Why was this girl back?  
  
She wasn't pretty, he supposed. Maybe she was Hikaru's girlfriend? Maybe she was his type. How would Touya know? He'd never really known Hikaru outside of Go. He'd never needed to.  
  
"Are you angry with him?"  
"..."  
"There really isn't a lot that I know about Hikaru," She said slowly, her hands coming together and wiggling nervously.  
"I thought I did, but I don't."  
  
The few people that had come, and the fewer that had stayed so late were already beginning to walk out of the building. The cleaning committee chatted softly as they began pulling the displays up, and brooms were brought out.  
  
Touya sat on alone, on an uncomfortable plastic chair, his elbows pressed against his thighs. Ina Beliend stood in front of him, looking somber.  
  
"You are not the only one," Akira spoke for the first time, softly.  
She nodded faintly.  
"Who were you?"  
"No one."  
"I don't believe you."  
"..."  
"Who were you?"  
"I thought," Akira raised his gaze and looked at her squarely.  
"I though," He began again, "that I was his rival."  
  
Ina tilted her head to the side, weighting his words. She was sure that she didn't quite grasp the immensity of that, but she was willing to trust the concept her mind perceived.  
  
"Who are you?"  
"No one."  
"Liar. Don't make me ask again."  
Touya frowned thinly at her, beginning to grow irritated.  
"I am not a liar, and I am no one."  
"Would Hikaru have reacted that way if you were no one?"  
"I don't know."  
"Why not?"  
"I never bothered to know him."  
"Why?"  
"Because... I was too busy being his rival."  
"But you did know him."  
"Hardly."  
"How did you not know him?"  
  
Touya sighed silently, trying to politely humor her. He didn't know what she was trying to drive at with the silly questions.  
"I... I don't know anything about him. I barely even knew where he lived or where he went to school. We weren't friends."  
"Why did you want him?"  
He glanced at her, and raised an eyebrow.  
She rolled her eyes.  
"As your rival."  
"He... was confusing."  
"Isn't he, still?"  
Touya opened his mouth, and closed it again.  
"Did Hikaru ever run away?"  
The older man nodded slightly.  
"What did you do?"  
"... I chased."  
"Did you ever run away?"  
He bristled at that, but grudgingly nodded.  
"What did he do?"  
"... He chased me."  
Ina smiled.  
"What is Hikaru doing?"  
"Running away."  
"From what?"  
"I don't know."  
"What are you going to do?"  
  
*~*~*~   
  
End Chapter 2   
  
*~*~*~   
  
Yes, this was a short chapter, but I got in what I wanted. o_o;...  
That conversation at the end was just way too much fun to write. I had no idea where I was going with it, but I'm happy with how it turned out. 


End file.
